Ike's Egg Drop, Visit with Gma Mary and Gpa Dave, and Some Fall Fun

Finally wrapping up September with this post! We did a little of everything. Ike continued with soccer, where he split time between playing goalie and striker. Both boys were busy with robotics and Dave was going strong with Super Smash in his eSports club at school. 

Ike competed in an egg drop competition-he made it to the final round but his egg didn't survive the drop from the boom truck.

We had a great visit with Gma Mary and Gpa Dave before they headed back to Florida. Gma Mary made us some delicious soup and the boys ran around their backyard like a bunch of crazies. 

Dave and I continued to have some nice walks. Trying to get as many outdoor walks in as we can before the weather gets junky!

Look at this handsome 4th grader! Hard to believe. 

Partly for Ike's birthday, but also because we'd been wanting to try it, we went to Long Lake Resort with the Getz family and Ben to see how it compared to other pumpkin patches. 

Kids had fun, but it was really geared towards younger kids. Guess our boys are just getting past the age where stuff like this is cool!

After the pumpkin patch we went to pick up Augie from Manchester and he gave us a tour of the campus and the eSports hub. It was so cool! The boys loved getting to see where everything was and Aug was a great tour guide :)

 

Friends, Family Camp, Covid in Evansville

September was a super busy month for us! The boys love going to the football games (not to watch, to hang out of course), they have a million activities right now and we went to Family Camp and Evansville!

Dave's buddies at a game. 

Had more kids over to hang out and play outside while the weather was still great. 

I was pretty much making pickles nonstop. 

And taking garden pictures. I have a problem!

We had a great time at Family Camp. I didn't take many pictures, but we had good weather and great fellowship. Also pretty sure this is where Dave picked up Covid!

The next weekend we went to Evansville. Dave had been feeling kinda sick, but we really thought it was allergies. 

Day two of being there Dave felt really bad and we tested him...

 

We stayed one more night since it was late when we found out then we headed back home a day early. Josh ended up catching it from Dave, so he was on quarantine for a while too. Ike and I squeaked through it but we had it in February so I kinda thought we would be ok. Thankfully neither of them was very sick and we didn't pass it along to anyone that I know of!

Twenty One Pilots and Detroit

The boys received Twenty One Pilots tickets last year for Christmas-we finally got to go in August! We made a day of it in Detroit, going to Belle Isle, walking along the river, eating, etc.

First stop was Belle Isle. This place was awesome and everything was free. We hit the aquarium, the conservatory, ate at a food truck, and the kids managed to come away without being injured by the crazy slide!

We strolled by the river and went inside the big GM building to check out the concept cars. Josh and Ike set off the alarms, it was great. 

Next up was pizza! We ate at Supino's which was on an episode of Triple D a while back. This was super delicious, highly recommend. 

Finally it was time for the concert. Well almost! We got there pretty early but glad we did because it started raining. We had found shelter to hang out in until the concert so it worked out great. 

Gosh it was a great show even though we had horrible seats! The kids (and us) had a blast. 

 

Anniversary, Cubs Game, and Gardening

This year marked our 16th wedding anniversary-crazy right? We celebrated by going out to a fancy dinner at Tolon in Fort Wayne. It was so delicious!

Ike's rock tumbler finally finished to produce these beauties. He loves it so much!

All the fellas on Josh's side went down to Cincy to enjoy a Cubs game. They had so much fun and saw a ton of homeruns!

Ike sometimes helps out in my garden-he especially loves all the tomatoes! I had a pretty good year, lots of cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes. Josh's super hot peppers were really slow to grow and ripen which was a bummer. And I messed up with my tomatillo plant...turns out I needed two! It was a year of learning for sure and I can't wait til next spring to start again!

 

First Day of School 2023

The boys got off to a great start in school this year...7th and 4th grade, hard to believe. And Dave moved up to the high school so that was pretty exciting for him (mostly because the food is better according to him!).

On back to school night I forced the kids to take pictures. Ike was clearly thrilled with this. 

Figuring out the locker with his locker buddy Alec.

After school walk :)

 

So far this year Ike is doing robotics and playing soccer and Dave is doing robotics and playing Super Smash Bros for esports. They both have been going to youth group-Ike on Wednesdays and Dave on Sundays. It has been a busy fall so far but it's great to see them continue on with their interests and try new things!